International Handbook of Development Economics

Book excerpt: The essays are concise, yet comprehensive, and each essay contains a substantial set of references, which an interested researcher or student could follow up. . . In addition to representing multidisciplinary interactions, this collection encompasses several different perspectives within development economics, so the reader can learn, for example, both about neoclassical approaches and dependency theories in the same volume. This makes the collection unique and all the more valuable. . . This is a very good reference collection, as the individual essays are informative and provide a good overall perspective on the topic that they set out to address. The extensive bibliography at the end of each essay adds further value to this collection. Ashwini Deshpande, Economic and Political Weekly These new volumes impress along two dimensions. First, they highlight important connections between economic development and variables such as culture, warfare, and ethnicity, which are sometimes ignored by mainstream economists. Second, they analyze the economic development experience of different regions such as Africa, Latin America, and East Asia. . . a valuable reference for scholars and practitioners in the field. Highly recommended. H.A. Faruq, Choice This two-volume original reference work provides a comprehensive overview of development economics and comprises contributions by some of the leading scholars working in the field. Authors are drawn from around the world and write on a wide range of topics. After providing an introduction to the subject (by examining issues like the meaning and measurement of development, historical and interdisciplinary approaches, empirical regularities and data problems), the contributors provide a wealth of perspectives on, and analyses of, development economics. They discuss alternative approaches to development, the macroeconomics of growth, factors and sources of economic development (such as capital, labor, entrepreneurship, resources and technology), major sectors of concern (such as agriculture, industry, services and the informal sector) and international issues (such as trade, capital and labor flows and technology transfers). Income distribution and poverty, the state and other institutions, and actual development experiences are explored. The contributors provide analytical contributions, as well as the relation between these contributions and real world and policy issues from a variety of alternative perspectives. Scholars, students, policymakers and other development practitioners will all find this comprehensive reference invaluable.